Chromosomal abnormalities link to autism?

Post Reply New Topic

In today's New York Times:

Searching for Similar Diagnosis Through DNA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/healt ... ref=slogin

That's fascinating-- it would be interesting to discover that autism is any number of chromosomal aberrations.

What I got out of the article was that some people who have been diagnosed with autism actually have a chromosomal abnormality resulting in some behaviors that are consistent with autism. Perhaps it would be a good idea to screen autistic kids for these chromosomal abnormalities. This could help the ones who do have these conditions to get treatment that they might need. It also might help to explain the "1 in 150" that is so often quoted; I realize that most of those 150 have either AS or HFA, but perhaps some of the others have chromosomal abnormalities instead of autism.

I thought that the way in which autism was mentioned in the article was slightly misleading. It could be taken to imply that autism is most likely caused by a chromosomal abnormality. I would be surprised if most cases of autism were caused by chromosomal abnormalities because if so, there would be more physical resemblance between autistic people. As the article points out, even minor variation in chromosomal structure tend to cause an array of physical effects.

There are physical similarities among some autistics, like hypotonia.

yes i believe many things cause it nt just one thing

Interesting article! I am fascinated by medical topics, including various chromosomal disorders.